Infant monitoring and identification apparatus

Abstract

A system and component parts thereof are provided for monitoring a controlled area in a maternity or other healthcare facility. Access-ways to and from the controlled area are each provided with an access-way monitoring station and all infants and mothers subject to monitoring are provided with an infant mother station of a cooperant pair thereof. Each of the infant and mother rations has attachment means enabling secure attachment thereof to the body of the infant or mother. All stations have communication means enabling wireless communication of identification data directly between them. The infant and mother stations recognize unique identification data transmitted by one to the other of such stations, and indicator means such as an LED indicate that recognition of the unique identification data has taken place so as to result in positive identification to the mother station of the associated infant station. The access-way monitoring stations repeatedly interrogate all infant stations within a short range and check that the corresponding mother station is also present within that range. If not, an alarm is given.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . Infant monitoring and identification apparatus comprising an infant station having attachment means enabling secure attachment thereof to the body of an infant and a separate cooperating mother station having attachment means enabling secure attachment thereof to the body of an adult, each station having communication means enabling wireless communication of identification data directly between them, recognition means in at least one of the infant and mother stations for recognizing the identification data transmitted by the other of such stations and indicator means for indicating that recognition of the data has taken place, the identification data being substantially unique to a particular mother station and associated infant station or stations so as to result in positive identification to the mother station of such infant station.  
     
     
         2 . Infant monitoring and identification apparatus as claimed in    claim 1    in which both the infant station and the mother station have both transmitter and receiver means.  
     
     
         3 . Infant monitoring and identification apparatus as claimed in    claim 1    in which the identification data to be transmitted from one station to the other is embodied in a composite message in which the identification data itself assumes the form of an identification number and the identification number in the case of the infant station and the mother station is identical and requires simple comparison to achieve said recognition.  
     
     
         4 . Infant monitoring and identification apparatus as claimed in    claim 3    in which additional data contained in said composite message serves to identify the one as an infant station and the other as a mother station.  
     
     
         5 . Infant monitoring and identification apparatus as claimed in    claim 1    in which both stations to have indicator means for indicating mutual recognition of the associated stations.  
     
     
         6 . Infant monitoring and identification apparatus as claimed in    claim 1    in which the mother station with together with generally one, but for use in multiple birth situations, more than one, associated infant stations are programmed at factory level with matching identification numbers so that the stations are supplied as a matched set and the stations of any other set will not cooperate with stations of any other sets to indicate recognition.  
     
     
         7 . Infant monitoring and identification apparatus as claimed in    claim 1    in which, in the case of the infant station, the secure attachment means comprises a clamp intended to be clamped around the umbilical cord of the infant at the time of birth and to remain secured to the remnant umbilical stump thereafter until it falls off in the normal course of events by which time the infant station will generally have served its purpose.  
     
     
         8 . Infant monitoring and identification apparatus as claimed in    claim 1    in which the mother station has secure attachment means in the form of a wristband of the general type that needs to be severed in order to remove it.  
     
     
         9 . An access-way monitoring station having transmitter and receiver means for communication with infant and mother stations as defined above over a limited range which extends over at last the extent of an access-way to and from a controlled area, the transmitter means being operative to transmit repeated messages receivable by all infant stations within said range, the infant stations being programmed to identify such messages received as originating from an access-way monitoring station and to respond by transmitting a message embodying its unique identification data and wherein the receiver means is adapted to receive said infant station identifying messages from all infant stations within said limited range; the transmitter means being operative to thereafter send a message to each mother station associated with any responding infant station to trigger the mother station to respond by transmitting its unique identification data if it is also within said limited range, and alarm means for giving an alarm in the event of the infant and mother stations not being both within said range at the same time.  
     
     
         10 . An access-way monitoring station as claimed in    claim 9    in which the access-way monitoring station is adapted to transmit messages including data identifying it as an access-way monitoring station and thereby elicit a response from all infant stations within range, the infant stations being programmed to respond to any message received from an access-way monitoring station.  
     
     
         11 . An access-way monitoring station as claimed in    claim 9    in which the access-way monitoring station is adapted to be a stand-alone station not directly connected in any way with other such access-way monitoring stations.  
     
     
         12 . An access-way monitoring station as claimed in    claim 9    in which the station includes a computer or microprocessor controlled circuit having memory storage means for recording movements of infant stations and also, optionally, mother stations past the access-way monitoring station.  
     
     
         13 . A system for monitoring a controlled area in a maternity or other healthcare facility wherein access-ways to and from a controlled area are each provided with an access-way monitoring station as claimed in    claim 9    and all infants and mothers subject to monitoring are provided with an infant or mother station as claimed in    claim 1   .